Sir John Baird of Newbyth (by

East Linton East Linton is a village and former police burgh in East Lothian, Scotland, situated on the River Tyne and A199 road (former A1 road) five miles east of Haddington, with an estimated population of in . During the 19th century the population ...

), Lord Newbyth (1620–1698), was a Scottish advocate, judge, politician and diplomat. He served as Commissioner for Aberdeenshire in the

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

. Baird was the son of James Baird of

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in the same county, advocate, and for some time

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, and Bathia, daughter of Sir John Dempster of Pitliver, was admitted advocate on 3 June 1647. It must have been about the same year that he married Margaret, daughter of Sir William Hay of Linplum, by whom he had four children, three sons and one daughter, viz. John, born on 4 Oct 1648; Margaret, born on 23 Dec 1649; John, born on 23 Sep 1652; and William, born on 12 Nov 1654. Baird appears to have been knighted by Charles II on his accession to the

throne of Scotland The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thought to have grown ...

in 1651, In the correspondence of the Earls of Ancram and Lothian (1616–67) we find him referred to as Sir John, under date 1653. Thenceforward his name occurs with some frequency in that correspondence, and usually in such a connection as to suggest that he was regarded as a person of some weight and sagacity. Like his father he belonged to the covenanting party, and was considered of sufficient consequence to be excluded from the operation of the Act of Indemnity passed by the parliament of Scotland in 1662, being then mulcted in the sum of 2,400l. His eminence at the bar, however, could not be ignored, and in 1664 he was created an ordinary lord of session, assuming the title of Lord Newbyth. In the Scottish parliaments of 1665 and 1667 he represented Aberdeenshire, and sat on the committee of taxation in the former, and on that of supply in the latter, parliament. He was not returned to the parliament of 1669. In that year a grant of the barony of Gilmertoun within the sheriffdom of Edinburgh, made in his favour by the crown in 1667, was ratified by the parliament. In 1670 he was nominated one of the commissioners to negotiate the then projected

treaty of union The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new state of Great Britain, stating that the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland were to be "United i ...

between Scotland and England. In 1680 his youngest and only surviving son, William, was created

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

. By reason of his opposition to the arbitrary measures of the government he was superseded in the office of lord of session in 1681, Sir Patrick Ogilvie of Boyne being appointed in his place. He acted as commissioner of the

cess Cess is a tax that is generally levied for promoting services like health and education. Governments often charge cess for the purpose of development in social sectors. The word is a shortened form of "assess". The spelling is due to a mistaken ...

for the shire of Edinburgh in 1685, and also as commissioner of supply for the same county. On the accession of the

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he was re-appointed ordinary lord of session (1689), and retained his seat upon the bench until his death in 1698. In the

Advocates' Library The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh. It served as the national deposit library of Scotland until 1925, at which time through an Act of Parliament the National Library of Scotland ...

at Edinburgh are preserved certain papers in the handwriting of Lord Newbyth, being a collection of decisions ranging from 1664 to 1667, and a collection of practiques belonging to the period between 1664 and 1681.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, John 1620 births 1698 deaths 17th-century Scottish people

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

Newbyth People from Aberdeenshire Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish knights Covenanters Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1665 Members of the Convention of the Estates of Scotland 1667 Politics of Aberdeenshire Scottish diplomats Scottish civil servants People associated with Edinburgh 17th-century Scottish politicians Scottish legal writers 17th-century Scottish lawyers 17th-century Scottish writers